Ex-BBC engineer admits child pornography charges

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23411415

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A former BBC engineer has admitted downloading tens of thousands of indecent images of children.

Darren Shearer, 26, from Newtown Road, Worcester, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to 18 counts of making the images and five counts of distributing them.

The court heard 270 of the images he viewed were at the most serious Level 5 category.

He will return to Worcester Crown Court for sentencing on 30 August.

The offences took place between December 2008 and February this year and were said by defence barrister Daniel Oscroft to depict teenage boys who had "gone through puberty".

Shearer worked at the BBC's outside broadcast unit based at its Mailbox site in Birmingham at the time the offences came to light.

A BBC spokesperson said: "Darren Shearer no longer works for the BBC - he was suspended at the earliest opportunity upon hearing of the shocking allegations and was dismissed in March 2013."